Detroit Concert Choir

John Shirkey (Tenor) began his 15th year as a drafting teacher in the fall of 2009. He currently works at Southfield High School where he has been teaching for 7 years. Prior to beginning his second career in education, he worked in the automotive industry as a draftsman/designer for various companies including Ford and General Motors.

John's singing “career” began in junior high when his teacher told him he had a “nice voice”. Before that he loved to sing along with songs on the radio. As a senior in high school he auditioned as the lead singer for a local rock and roll band called “Mixed Company” and got the job. The band performed at high schools and dances in and around St. Clair County for a couple of years before disbanding. His next opportunity to sing was with the Grace Episcopal Church choir in Port Huron where he sang bass and then tenor under the direction of John O'Brien and Angel Tuomi-Gippert over a period of 15 years. Also during that time he was a member of the Port Huron Schubert Male Chorus under the direction of Matthew Jones as a baritone and then as a 2nd tenor. John was a member of the Port Huron Civic Theatre and sang in many of their musical productions such as Baby, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Footloose, and Crazy for You. He also served on the Civic Theatre’s board of directors for 3 years.

John became a member of DCC in January 2009 when he decided to get back into singing after moving to Detroit from Port Huron. He and his wife chose to live in the midtown area because they wanted to be near all the cultural events. John is amazed at the amount of talent in the DCC and has found that this, coupled with the challenging music that the choir performs, has helped him become a better singer.